The benchmark equity indices were trading near the day's high in early afternoon trade. Sentiment was upbeat after US drug maker Pfizer said large-scale trials of its coronavirus vaccine showed it was more than 90% effective in preventing infection.
At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, spurted 443.63 points or 1.04% at 43,041.06. The Nifty 50 index rallied 113.05 points or 0.91% at 12,574.10.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.15% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.25%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,177 shares rose and 1,296 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.
Bihar Elections:
The National Democratic Alliance is surging ahead of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar polls on Tuesday as the counting of votes for the 243 assembly seats is underway. After initial trends showed a close neck-and-neck contest between the two rival alliances, the incumbent Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance was leading in 128 seats, well above the halfway mark of 122.
Coronavirus Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 5,09,13,451 with 12,63,089 deaths. India reported 5,05,265 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,27,059 deaths while 79,59,406 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 5.38% to 21.195. The Nifty November 2020 futures were trading at 12,591.50, at a premium of 12.55 points compared with the spot at 12,578.95.
The Nifty option chain for 26 November 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 16.95 lakh contracts at the 13,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 28.89 lakh contracts was seen at 12,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Fin Service index advanced 3.22% to 13,581.35. The index added 16.71% in the past seven sessions.
Bajaj Finance (up 6.92%), M&M Financial Services (up 5.42%), Bajaj Finserv (up 4.82%), State Bank of India (up 4.76%) and HDFC (up 4.36%) were the top gainers in Fin Service segment.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Pfizer jumped 5.16% to Rs 5171.85 after the company's US-based parent said that its vaccine candidate against COVID-19 achieved success in first interim analysis.
The scrip jumped as much as 19.46% to hit the day's high at Rs 5875 in early trade. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE announced their mRNA-based vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated evidence of efficacy against COVID-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on the first interim efficacy analysis conducted on 8 November 2020 by an external, independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase 3 clinical study.
TCS fell 2.40%. The IT major announced an agreement under which the company will acquire 100% of the shares of Postbank Systems AG (PBS) from Deutsche Bank AG. PBS is the full-range captive IT service provider that provides project management, application management and infrastructure support services to Postbank and other subsidiaries of Deutsche Bank. PBS and its around 1,500 employees will become part of TCS, deepening the relationship between the two organizations. This will further add to TCS' scale in Germany and strengthen its growth outlook.
Hindalco Industries slipped 0.67%. The U.S. subsidiary Novelis Inc. reported a net loss attributed to its common shareholder of $37 million, down 130% versus the prior year due to a $181 million net loss associated with discontinued operations. Net income from continuing operations increased 17% versus the prior year to $144 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021. Excluding tax-effected special items in both years, second quarter fiscal 2021 net income was $158 million, down 1% versus the prior year period, as higher after-tax adjusted EBITDA was offset by higher depreciation, amortization, and interest expense mainly associated with the acquisition of Aleris.
NTPC gained 1.90% after the PSU firm announced commercial operation of first part capacity of 8 megawatt (MW) for 20 MW Auraiya Solar PV project. NTPC informed that consequent upon successful commissioning, 8 MW part capacity of 20 MW Auraiya Solar PV Project at Auraiya, UP, has been declared on commercial operation with effect from 10 November 2020.
Bayer CropScience tumbled 5.90%. The agrochemical firm's standalone net profit jumped 32.3% to Rs 224.60 crore on 2.6% increase in net sales to Rs 1,381.60 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. Standalone profit before tax (PBT) surged 37.3% to Rs 296 crore in Q2 September 2020 as against Rs 215.60 crore in Q2 September 2019. Current tax expense for the quarter rose 13.4% to Rs 65 crore as against Rs 57.30 crore in Q2 September 2019.
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